WVU Extension leads efforts to enhance sustainability of tourism in rural communities

July 8, 2026

This article by Hannah Booth (West Virginia University Division for Land-Grant Engagement) highlights the Tourism, Resiliency and Indicators for Post-Pandemic Planning (TRIP) project and a recently published study by the TRIP project team. NERCRD Director Stephan Goetz, Associate Director Stephen Alessi, and Faculty Affiliate Luyi Han are members of the project team. The TRIP project is led by WVU’s Doug Arbogast, who is also a member of the NERCRD Technical Advisory Committee.

Groundbreaking survey conducted across three major US regions sheds light on household and community well-being

April 29, 2025

A new data initiative by the Regional Rural Development Centers has produced an open access dataset available to all researchers nationally. Collected in a groundbreaking, multi-region Baseline Survey 2024, the household-level dataset establishes a baseline to inform policy decisions, community development strategies, and targeted interventions related to regional challenges and opportunities. A webinar on May 9, 2025, at 3:00 pm (ET) will explore key preliminary findings from the survey data.

Rural manufacturing exports linked to innovation

April 2, 2025

While rural areas are more dependent on manufacturing than their urban peers, they are less likely to participate in global markets. NERCRD researchers have identified several factors that explain why, with differences in innovation capacity playing the most significant role.

Webinar Recording: Food Recovery for Rhode Island — Cultivating Community-Led Solutions to Food Access and Food Waste

March 17, 2025

A recording is now available of the April 2025 webinar presentation by University of Rhode Island’s Dr. Amanda Missimer and Vanessa Venturini, who will share the story of Food Recovery for Rhode Island—a Cooperative Extension community development train-the-trainer program that simultaneously addresses food waste, food insecurity and climate change.

Celebrating 25 years of leadership!

March 11, 2025

Since joining the Penn State faculty in 1999 as NERCRD’s Director, Stephan Goetz has shaped its development as a high-performing organization that has made numerous contributions to the understanding and practice of rural community and economic development.

“Addressing the Housing Crisis” is focus of March 12 Land-Use Webinar

March 4, 2025

March 12, 2025 at 12:00 p.m. ET — This webinar will explore a collaborative approach being taken in New Hampshire to address the housing crisis. The webinar is part of the Land Use Webinar Series, organized by Penn State Extension in partnership with the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association (PA-APA) and the Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development.

Webinar Recording: “Marylanders Online: Bridging the Digital Divide in Rural Communities”

February 24, 2025

This webinar took place on March 20, 2025, and a recording is available. University of Maryland Extension’s Teri Mumm and Julie Slivka presented on innovative strategies and initiatives aimed at increasing internet access and digital literacy in Maryland’s rural areas.

Adapting to the Digital Age: Insights from a National Participatory Research Project

January 27, 2025

Researchers from the nation’s four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDCs) who adapted traditional community-engaged research approaches for an entirely virtual setting have shared their key takeaways and lessons learned in a paper published in Community Development, a peer-reviewed journal of the Community Development Society. The methods they developed can be used by practitioners and researchers […]

Congratulations to Claudia Schmidt, recipient of Northeast “Excellence in Extension” award!

November 19, 2024

Claudia Schmidt, assistant professor of marketing and local/regional food systems in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences and NERCRD Faculty Affiliate, received this year’s Northeast Region Excellence in Extension Award for an Individual, presented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension System’s Extension Committee on Organization and […]

Webinar Recording: Engaging Extension and Community Partners for the Creation of Active Transportation Plans

Tuesday, December 10 at 1:00 p.m. ET — The next NERCRD webinar will feature Penn State Extension’s Leadership and Community Vitality team members Neal Fogle and John Turack, who will share their experiences of working with Huntingdon County, PA, on the development and implementation of an Active Transportation Plan (ATP) in collaboration with PA WalkWorks, a PA Department of Health initiative. Learn more and register here.

Report provides details on minority-owned businesses in Northeast states

October 29, 2024

A new research report provides detailed information about minority-owned businesses in the Northeast region. The report, written by West Virginia University’s Xiaoyin Li and Heather M. Stephens and NERCRD’s Stephan Goetz, highlights the differences in minority entrepreneurship across the region, which in turn can support the development of policies to promote minority business development.